Category: Pain

Where Were You When I Started It All? Job 38:4-7

6/4/2019

Part 3 of Meeting God
A Series of Articles on Job 38-42

God has a very powerful way of bringing Job to a place where he acknowledges that he may have a limited perspective on things. Job has experienced suffering at a level few humans can even grasp. In the midst of dealing with his suffering Job was visited by his “friends.” As their question and answer sessions proceeded, Job was eventually accused of wickedness and sin, which they believed brought on Job’s sufferings. In the back and forth that ensued, Job called upon God as his witness to defend and verity his innocence. Now God has “shown up” - literally. He will eventually vindicate Job, but before He does, He asks Job a few questions to help him with perspective in his situation.

That often is our problem in the midst of suffering. We battle with wondering whether we have done something sinful that brought our situation to pass. We struggle with the thought that we are being punished and that God is angry with us. That is why we are suffering. For those who have not committed a sin that is being visited with discipline, things are even more difficult. And it is in navigating those difficulties that we can lose perspective and begin to wonder about God Himself. We can even toy with questions about His sovereignty and management of our providential circumstances. God does come to Job spectacularly - and He will come to us as well. The thing is that if we expect Him to explain Himself in the matter, we may be greatly disappointed. God comes, not to explain Himself to us, but to reveal Himself to us - and that is what He does with Job.

God reveals Himself with a series of questions. His first is this: “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?” Wow, now there is a doozy of a question right at the start. Where exactly were you when I started it all? When the foundation for all that you know, see, and experience was laid? I didn’t see you there. That is a question that honestly needs to be asked, not just of Job, but on a much larger scale - to all of humanity (especially of those who are scientists).

God reveals Himself to us in ways we can grasp and here, God uses building terms to help Job grasp what He is saying. The Lord first speaks of laying a foundation. Yet, we know that there are no pillars or supports on which the earth rests - no massive Titan who carries the earth upon his shoulders. Job understood that because he said in 26:7 that God, “hangs the earth on nothing.” This is poetic language and as such we need to be careful not to understand it in a literal way. In fact, what we see here is God using building terms such as . . .

Who laid the foundations of the earth?
Who set it’s measurements?
Who stretched the line on it?
On what were its bases sunk?
Who laid its cornerstone?

All these terms were used in building structures for mankind. Footings had to be dug, measurements made, lines stretched to establish plumb, a cornerstone put into place off of which the walls and foundation would be laid. These are all things the construction industry would do. But how exactly would this be done on a world scale? How would this be done for the entire universe? It is quite a task when a man would attempt to build a home. It could take months or years based on the size of the home or the structure. Solomon’s temple took seven years to construct. Multiply that times a trillion to just get things started when you think of the earth and the solar system. But that is what God is asking Job.

This is a question impossible to answer with the understanding of Job’s day - but take a moment and consider that question in light of the Hubble space telescope. Consider the wisdom needed to intricately lay the paths of a trillion stars and planets. That isn’t even a trillionth of what is actually in the heavens. Were you there when God made all of this? Where were you? Exactly. You didn’t even exist except in the future understanding and plan of God - Who by the way, made it all.

What is fascinating about the four chapters in Job we are considering is that God does not use them to answer the reason behind Job’s suffering and pain. He does not use them to explain the circumstances of Job’s trouble. In the end what God does is to ask Job whether He is as great, eternal, wise, powerful, good, and perfect as God Himself. That may seem like far less than Job should receive. But Job would vehemently disagree with you on that matter. He would rejoice in having been able to receive such a full and magnificent revelation of God. Job’s response would be to tell us it would have been better for him to have kept quiet and trust in God.

My guess is that there are probably many who do not like that answer. To be left without a specific why - and even more pointedly - why me - is not enough to those in a sinful condition. They deserve more. They deserve answers. They deserve an explanation - even from God - to justify why He would allow such things. In all honesty - they would eventually find that a God who does not answer the questions by which they put Him on trial - is not a God they are wanting to accept - let alone know, love, or serve. OK - but their trial and eventual denial of Him will not remove Him from His place. You see, God is God and we are His creation. Just because we do not like that will not change it. (Please understand that God is not just ultimate power and authority, but also ultimate goodness, kindness, mercy, compassion, and love.) We often don’t get it because we are infinitesimally small and greatly lack perspective. That is why God asks the question, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?”

Our perspective is very limited. It is dominated by self-interest and a heart that is bound by sin and rebellion against God. If we truly want to understand things, we need a much bigger perspective. When we see God through the revelation of Himself to us, our perspective changes. When we see Him . . . nothing else matters any more. Seeing Him is enough. At least that is what Job would tell us.

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The Sad Story of Ahithophel - Wisdom Destroyed by Bitterness

2/20/2018

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This past week we read through the part of 2 Samuel that involved the rebellion of David’s son, Absalom and those who supported him. Among those who supported this rebellious son was a man named Ahithophel, who held the position of the king’s counselor. In this role he was evidently very skilled. His advice was as one who had inquired of the oracle of God according to 2 Samuel 16:23. Both David and Absalom saw him in this light. He is also had a son who was listed among David’s mighty men (2 Samuel 23:34). This was no ordinary man - but was a man mighty in valor and in wisdom in the years he served the king. He was a man who supported David and who even had children who served with great distinction among David’s most elite warriors.

But what happened to Ahithophel? Why would he choose Absalom over David? What would lead a wise, godly man to not only choose wrongly here - but also to offer very godless advice to Absalom as one of his first acts as his counselor? In 2 Samuel 16 he encouraged Absalom to commit adultery and rape with 10 of David’s concubines in broad daylight before all of Israel in Jerusalem. That is not godly counsel! What would lead a man who once was seen as a source of godly wisdom to give such unwise, unholy counsel?

Something we know only by examining the genealogies of Scripture is that Ahithophel had a granddaughter who was well known in the annals of Scripture. We read in 2 Samuel 23:34 that Ahithophel’s son was named Eliam. What we don’t see, unless we examine the records closer, is who Eliam’s daughter and Ahithophel’s granddaughter was. Her name was Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam. Bathsheba was Ahithophel’s granddaughter. This was how a godly man began to descend down a path of bitterness that eventually destroyed not just his wisdom, but eventually destroyed him in the end.

What a blow it had to be to learn of David’s betrayal to him and his family. Ahithophel had served with honor and distinction - had given his son to the fight - had even given his son-in-law as well (for Uriah was one of the mighty men of David too). David repented of his sin in the end - even writing publicly sung Psalms that spoke of his betrayal and wickedness. But something happened to Ahithophel in the process. We are warned in the New Testament to beware of any root of bitterness that may spring up in us that will defile us and many around us. David bears responsibility for his sin and for being a stumbling block to Ahithophel, but it was also this man’s responsibility to forgive as well - even when it was excruciating to do so. But it is evident that he did not - but began to nurse bitterness and a grudge against David.

Then the day came that an opportunity arose for Ahithophel. David’s passivity toward his son was costing him the kingdom. Absalom had effectively stolen the hearts of many in Israel and a rebellion was begun. One of the early things Absalom did was to ask Ahithophel to be a part of the rebellion - and Ahithophel gladly rose to the task. His ungodly advice to begin Absalom’s rule by invading and then raping the 10 concubines left to care for the house was shocking. But it had its desired results in that it burned any bridge left between David and Absalom. Then Ahithophel counseled Absalom to let him had a large strike force he would take and use to chase down and kill David. He was not focused on winning a battle - but on making sure David was dead. These were the actions of a man who was consumed with destroying David - as he had destroyed Ahithophel’s family.

In a strange twist, David’s close friend, Hushai - stayed behind at David’s request to thwart the counsel of Ahithophel. When Hushai disagreed with Ahithophel’s counsel and prevailed - the disgraced royal counselor knew that Absalom would not prevail. With a hurt pride - and a crushed spirit that would no longer be able to see David killed - Ahithophel went home. Unforgiveness turned to bitterness and now bitterness had led to ungodly counsel to murder God’s anointed. He saw his own demise coming - and unable to see forgiveness as a possibility (probably due to his own inability and unwillingness to give it to others) - Ahithophel set his house in order - and hung himself.

What do we learn from the sad story of Ahithophel? First, I want to make sure that everyone who reads this knows that what David did was sin - and he was responsible before God for being a stumbling block to many. It brought great damage to his own family and also among his friends. So we do learn that sin has a horrific price to it that we usually do not see in the moment we consider it and act in an ungodly manner. Hopefully we see a reminder to ask ourselves, “Who is going to be hurt by the fallout of my sin?” This is a question we most definitely should ask - and allow its answer to warn us and frighten us so that we fear God and run from sin. But there is a second lesson we need to learn. Stumbling blocks will come - and anyone who has lived on this fallen earth knows that there will be many many times we will be hurt in one lifetime. The lesson we need to take from Ahithophel is to realize that nursing those hurts instead of giving them to God and forgiving others will destroy us. I do not want to minimize the pain and hurt Ahithophel felt. I do not want to given anyone the impression that such pain is easy to deal with in life. But the truth is that our pain, when not dealt with, will lead us toward unforgiveness and bitterness. Left to grow into a malignancy in our hearts - bitterness and unforgiveness will hurt us. The damage it will do within us is only going to grow over time. Ahithophel’s hurt and pain did turn into unforgiveness and bitterness in the end. It smoldered within his heart and turned a wise man into a fool who gave very wicked advice. It turned a man who served God early in his life into a man who lived with an unholy vendetta to kill the one who hurt him - and when that opportunity was taken from him - he killed himself.

To those who have been hurt badly by another - even possibly a leader in a church - I do not want to minimize your pain. It is very real. But remember that our Lord was betrayed and left alone at the cross. He knows every ounce of venom the world can try to inject with its bite into our hearts. He did not succumb to it - and even prayed, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing,” toward those who impaled him upon the cross. He even forgave Peter who denied Him and cursed vehemently as he did. He forgave the others who ran and left Him and who did not even stand with Him for one hour of prayer in the garden. Our Lord Jesus Christ has been betrayed an untold amount of times since then - even by our own indifference and unwillingness to speak and stand out for Him. And He forgives - and forgives - and forgives again. He has even given us His Spirit, by which He empowers us to draw on His life and power to forgive others. Bitterness and unforgiveness destroyed Ahithophel. Let us not learn or draw from him and his example when hurt - but rather let us die to ourselves and draw upon our Lord Jesus Christ and His life to forgive.

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"Graven on His Hands" - a Reminder that God Loves You!

8/9/2013

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Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. May the Lord remind you this week that He has NOT forgotten you - nor will He ever forget you as one of His redeemed children!

Have you ever thought that maybe God has fogotten you? Have problems arisen and surrounded you to the point where you really wonder if God has just forgotten you and no longer remembers you or hears your cries? Some might be tempted to think I only say this from a lack of faith - or from not seeing the facts (the biblical ones) properly. But the truth is that many of God's choicest saints came to this point in their lives. In fact, I have come to the point where I am a little shocked if those who are following hard after the Lord have not experienced this.

David experiened this when he wrote, "Why O Lord do you forget me? Why O Lord do you hide Your face from me?" in the Psalms. Moses cried out to God, "Do not take us up from here unless You Yourself go with us!" Job had searchings of heart that go beyond anything any of us have experienced - and many of them had to do with whether God had left him or not. This is far from a rare experiece. In fact, the godly men and women of earlier times called these experiences, "the dark night of the soul."

What do you do in these "dark nights of the soul" so that you do not give up in your pursuit of the Lord? The main thing you do is turn to Scripture and find reassurance in the promises of God that even as He hides Himself for a period of time - He has not - nor will He forsake you.

Today I was reading in Isaiah and came upon this amazing promise.

"But you have said, 'the LORD has forsaken me, and the LORD has forgotten me.' Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. Behold I have increibed you on the palms of my hands . . ." Isaiah 49:14-16, NASB

When God's people had wondered if God has forsaken and forgotten them, God made it clear that even if a brand new mother could forget her nursing child - He would not forget His people. What this means is that you would see all the mothers in the world forget their newborn infants before you would see God forsake and forget His people! What a wonderful promise. That means every time you look at a mother with her newborn - and note how much she loves that little baby - you can be assured that God feels similarly about you. When you see the light on at 2 or 3 in the morning because that mom is totally committed to caring for that little one - you can walk out into the night or day knowing that with an even greater commitment God cares for and loves you!

But there is an even more amazing statement made here in Isaiah 49. In verse 16 God tells us that He has "engraved" or "inscribed us on the palms of His hands. The word that God uses here for this means to cut, inscribe or pierce. How do we know that God has not forgotten or forsaken us? Literally - there are inscriptions on the hands of God Himself that will forever remind us of how much He loves us! What are those marks? They are nail prints in his hands that God chose NOT to heal as His Son, Jesus Christ, was raised from the dead. The disciples saw those glorious wounds of eternal love after He rose from the dead. Jesus told Thomas to put his fingers into those nail prints to realize that it was truly Jesus that was before him. The price of our forgiveness and salvation is forever etched into the hands of our Lord Jesus Christ. If we ever need proof that God has not abandoned or forsaken us - all we have to do is look there. That statement - that commitment - that price that was paid - and those wounds that He bore and bears to this day - forever speak to us that He will never leave us or forsake us!

Let me close this article with the words to a hymn that we sing.

Crown Him the Lord of love
Behold His hands and side,
Those wound yet visible above
In beauty glorified.
All hail redeemer hail,
For Thou hast died for me!
Thy praise and glory shall not fail
Throughout eternity!
- Matthew Bridges -

Dearest redeemed ones of God, know that He loves you! He will not forsake you - nor will He forget you! He has loved you with an everlasting love, and has drawn you to Himself with lovingkindness. He loved you long before you ever thought of even acknowledging Him. While you were yet a sinner - even in the moment when you were your very worst - Christ died for you! (Romans 5:8). His love for you is and never has been because of your performance or your level of recent obedience. You are forever graven on His hands. Those wounds - now glorified in heaven - are there not as a reminder of your shame and disgrace. They are there for the glory of God - who has loved you forever - and who will love you for an infinite number of forevers as time marches outward to the vanishing point and beyond! If you ever doubt this - just remember to look at His hands - and know and rejoice that you have been inscribed there for all eternity!

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Groaning in the Changing Room of Life - 2 Corinthians 5:1-5

2/13/2013

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For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. (2 Corinthians 5:1-5)

Do I see this life as a building or as a tent? Paul begins by comparing our life here on earth to living in a tent. Our earthly bodies are mere tents - temporary dwellings. They will be torn down - i.e. we are going to die. But there is another dwelling - a building from God, a house made without hands. This is our eternal dwelling place with God for Paul lets us know that it is "eternal in the heavens."

Too often I see this world as substance and the things of the Spirit as shadow - when the fact is that it is just the opposite. We live in a shadow-world and the reality is the spiritual. Paul's assertions here - and God's truth is that we should KNOW that this world is the tent - and heaven is our house, our building, our home.

The problem we have is that all that is around us seems so real. It is real - but it is so amazingly temporary. All this around us will be torn down - and it will vanish. So why live for it? Why focus upon it?

In this house (our current tent) we groan. That is because since salvation we have been changed - born again - made alive in the realm of the Spirit. Since that time - the reality of this world is fading - even as the Holy Spirit teaches us more and more about what is real. Therefore we begin to groan. This world is filled with death, destruction, deception, and devilish ways. We want - even long to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven. We want reality and truth - therefore we want God. We know, just as Adam and Eve were filled with the horrific knowledge of their own nakedness after sinning agaisnt God, that we are naked and need to be clothed. (They tried to sew fig leaves to cover their nakedness - and hide it from God. Mankind has been either sewing their own religious covering or hiding from Him ever since.) We know that as we put on Christ, His righteousness and His works, that we will not be found naked. But as long as we live in this world - shadowland - we will continue to groan over our humanity, over our flesh, over our inability to completely shake off all the effects of the Fall. We are burdened with this as long as we inhabit our unglorified bodies.

We groan in a way because we don't want to be unclotherd, but clothed. Here Paul shifts gears and speaks of how our flesh and our human existance fights death. We also are well known throughout all history for fighting God as He unclothes us from our religious outfits. We don our works-mentality and our religious observances thinking that in these we are clothed. We put on the world and its garish outfits of selfishness, self-centeredness, self-achievement, and self-glorifying. We embrace the fashion trends of the here and now - embracing the flesh-lusts, eye-lusts, and the pride of this life and our tent-ways. God wants to unclothe us from all these things - even allowing us, giving us over to them - so that in their self-destrutive ways we would groan. Suffering and pain make us groan - resisting His hand and His sanctifying purpose makes us groan - rebelling against His purposes and plans makes us groan. He will win these battles, even allowing periods of devastation in our lives - because we MUST be unclothed from such things so that what is mortal can be swallowed up by life itself. That life is His Life - abundant and eternal.

To these things God has been committed since the day of our salvation. At that moment He did something miraculous. He gave us His Spirit, putting Him deep within us - at the very core of our being. We were changed and altered (althought not so much to the seeng eye). The Spirit was His earnest money - His downpayment that guaranteed that He Who had done this work of salvation in us, would complete it until the day of our ultimate redemption. This is not earnest money that will be left on the table - after the transaction is abandoned. This is God's way of saying that He is committed to this process - and He will have us - all of us. It is also His way of saying that we will be unclothed from the rags and tatters of this world and its ways - and clothed with . . . well, with Him. This is more of a certainty than the next tick of the clock, your next breath, or the rising of the sun in the morning. These actually will all stop one day - but His pursuit of us clothed in Him alone will never end - nor will it ever be abandoned.

So today continues - tick after tick of the clock will go on - just like it did yesterday. You will continue to groan in this world - groan in your interesting ensemble of this world and the world to come. You will groan as more of your life and ways are unclothed with truth - conviction - repentance. Some times it will be painful - so painful and so difficult you wonder if you can take your next step. Other times will be delightful as you watch your humanity swallowed up by life - astounded as you see Christ, His character and ways more clearly in your attitudes and actions.

Groan, dear ones, groan under the burden of this world. Groan as you learn of a wardrobe so simple yet majestic. Groan as you embrace life itself. Such groans are a symphony of sanctificatioin in His ears. It is music both painful and pleasant to hear. It has played ever since the first couple were unclothed from such silliness as fig leaves - and were given physical garments paid for by a blood sacrifice. But in another realm preparations had been made since all eternity for a like re-clothing of all the redeemed. Preparations for man to be unclothed from all his sin - and dressed in the glorious, blood-bought righteousness of Christ. So groan my dear brothers and sisters - groan as you are changed out of your fallen humanity and redressed in Life that swallows you so that your nakendness is covered by His glory. And may even our groans rise in a cresendo of praise and glory and honor to our kind and gracious Clothier.

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Articles

Where Were You When I Started It All? Job 38:4-7

The Sad Story of Ahithophel - Wisdom Destroyed by Bitterness

"Graven on His Hands" - a Reminder that God Loves You!

Groaning in the Changing Room of Life - 2 Corinthians 5:1-5

Biblical Articles

Categories

​Articles

Where Were You When I Started It All? Job 38:4-7

The Sad Story of Ahithophel - Wisdom Destroyed by Bitterness

"Graven on His Hands" - a Reminder that God Loves You!

Groaning in the Changing Room of Life - 2 Corinthians 5:1-5

Biblical Articles

Categories

Articles